


Villanelle on self-isolation

by MasterPL



Category: Killing Eve (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:41:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24289858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MasterPL/pseuds/MasterPL
Summary: How to torture Eve if she doesn't leave the house?
Relationships: Eve Polastri/Villanelle | Oksana Astankova
Comments: 4
Kudos: 63





	1. It's a trap!

Konstantin turned the key and entered without knocking into Villanelle’s London flat. He found the mistress of the house in the bedroom – she was lying on the bed and was looking at the furniture catalog.  
“Looking for a new bed?” - Konstantin said loudly.  
Villanelle screamed and jumped onto the bed, and then threw the catalog at the intruder. Konstantin didn't have time to dodge and the sharp corner of the book left a deep scratch exactly in the middle of his forehead. Blood began to flow out of the wound and slowly drain to the bridge of the nose. Villanelle, recognizing her good old comrade, jumped out of bed and went to the guest to evaluate her work:  
\- You are fortunate that I did not clean my weapons.  
She made her finger guns and took aim at her colleague's forehead.  
\- Bang! - she "fired".  
Konstantin brushed Villanelle’s hands off, made a displeased face and went to the sofa.   
\- Stop fooling around, - he sat down on the sofa, wiped the blood off with his index finger and spread it on the inside of his palm, - you did not answer the question!  
\- What question? - Villanelle continued her little farce.  
\- Looking for new furniture?  
\- I want to buy a small cot for Eve. When we start living together, I will drive her to sleep on a cot if she starts to annoy me ... Or if I want to sleep alone.  
\- Better watch yourself a second blanket, - Konstantin grunted displeasedly, not looking up at Villanelle.  
\- What a great idea: to stay on the same bed, but under different blankets...  
\- The second blanket, in which you will cry alone, because Eve Polastri will never live with you, - screamed Konstantin and, plucking up courage, looked into Villanelle’s eyes.  
She said nothing. The mood was clearly spoiled.  
\- You became some kind of angry, - Villanelle tried to keep a casual look, as if Konstantin’s words didn’t hurt her, - I’ll cook you sausages.  
Silence reigned in the room. Villanelle cooked sausages, and Konstantin simply stared at one point and thought. Finally, he caught himself and jumped to his feet.  
\- Oh yes, I didn’t come empty-handed, - he took out a postcard from the inside pocket of his jacket. - A new target!  
Konstantin noticed the gleam in Villanelle’s eyes, when she immediately threw aside the kitchen spatula, hastily wiped her fingers on the apron and reached for the card, like a child for a Christmas present. But Konstantin drew his hand:  
\- I will give you a postcard only under one condition: check the coordinates with me, I want to enjoy your reaction.  
Villanelle raised an eyebrow questioningly, artfully put an apron on Konstantin, and grabbed a postcard, taking advantage of his confusion.  
\- Fry, - she shortly ordered, and headed for the laptop.  
She found the encrypted coordinates on the card and placed them in a program that showed that the next Villanelle's victim in her own apartment. Despite the fact that she immediately suspected Konstantin of a stupid joke, she still felt bewildered.  
\- Do you want me to commit suicide?  
Konstantin laughed with his usual loud and sonorous laugh, simultaneously turning over the sausages in the pan. He tried to answer Villanelle, but another laughing attack lasted so long that the girl really didn't felt right.   
\- That means, - Konstantin spoke instructively, poking at Villanelle with a spatula, - that you will stay at home until the quarantine ends in England!  
Villanelle's facial expression made Konstantin laugh again. He looked at his reflection in the microwave's door, scratched his fresh wound on the forehead and said complacently:  
\- It was worth it!  
Villanelle finally gathered her thoughts and blurted out:  
\- You want to say that the world's strongest evil corporation, which may have created all this world chaos, quarantines itself and cancels the service of “contract killings” because there are no sanitizers in the city with which killers could clean their guns before rescuing person from need to sour at home?   
\- This is very serious, Villanelle, now there are cameras and police everywhere. The Twelve decided not to take risks until everything calms down. Rejoice that your employers care about your health!  
Villanelle looked at Konstantin almost crying, because she was deprived, albeit for a while, of her favorite work.  
\- But imagine what kind of harvest you can arrange after all! - encouraged Konstantin offended Vi.  
The word "harvest" kindled a fire in the eyes of Villanelle and she was again amused.  
Konstantin put the sausages on a plate and set it on the table.  
\- Eat, - he said, rubbing his hands on a towel and taking off his apron, - sit at home and don't go anywhere, The Twelve want to see you healthy. Imagine this is a vacation.  
Konstantin walked toward the door, and Villanelle slowly sat in a chair, still crushed by the latest news.  
\- Wait, - she shouted after Konstantin, - what about Eve?  
Konstantin froze on the spot. Without turning around, he said quietly:  
\- I told you, no funny business!  
\- But I’m bored without her! - retorted Vi.  
Konstantin exhaled loudly, gritted his teeth, and after a moment shouted:  
\- Eve Polastri will never live in the same apartment with you anyway!”  
He left, slamming the door loudly. This Vi's obsession annoyed him.  
Villanelle sat in silence for a while, and then, without much enthusiasm, she began to chew sausages. Finally, a smile appeared on her face, which stretched wider and wider.  
A thousand ways appeared in her head, how to torture Eve without leaving home. She decided to start with small tricks, so she ordered home delivery food. Among other products, she ordered heart-formed marmalade.  
The courier soon appeared on the doorstep of Vi's apartment. She invited the guy to enter the apartment. The courier shook his head and said the word “instruction,” but the girl took a gun from the dresser, grabbed the guy by the collar and forcibly dragged him into the house.  
Continuing to held the courier at gunpoint, Villanelle found marmalade in a food stuffed bag, took out a black marker from the same dresser in the hallway and wrote on the package "Don’t be bored, baby".  
After that, she handed the bag of marmalade to the courier and dictated the address. The boy had to watch Eve's house until she ordered food and her courier came to her. He was supposed to toss marmalade into the packages of her order. After all, the courier had to report to Villanelle about the work done. To relocate humanity, Villanelle gave the courier a solid tip and sent to complete the assignment.

Eve had long been locked at home. All investigations could be carried out remotely - she moved a working computer to her apartment. As Villanelle expected, Eve used home delivery services. She just ordered the products, choosing online payment, and plunged into business. Five minutes later, Eve suddenly felt that her T-shirt smells bad and remembered that she was in the shower three days ago. Quarantine exacerbated her the natural absent-mindedness. Eve put the laptop to sleep mode and went to the bathroom. She turned on the high pressure of the water and added a lot of foam - she wanted to immerse herself in water and wash off the dirt as soon as possible. Finally, the bathroom was full and Eve climbed into it with a glass of wine and reached for the phone to read world news. Meanwhile, the courier delivered food to Eve, knocked on the door twice and, without waiting for an answer (many customers perceived contactless delivery in the most literal sense of the word), left. And the Vi's courier was delighted with the opportunity, because he managed to avoid awkward conversations with the Eve's courier. He quickly ran to the food bags and shoved marmalade into them as deep as possible, took a picture of Eve’s door, ran to his customer to report and get rid of the bondage.  
Eve didn't hear a knock on the door, because she was lying in the bathroom and, while sipping wine, listened to WHO recommendations for fighting the infection. When the announcer reached the recommendation to “wash the packaging of products,” Eve suddenly caught herself and ran out of the bathroom like scalded. She remembered the ordered products and already wanted to rush to the door when she had the idea to wash off the foam in her shower and get dressed, then wash the products, according to the WHO recommendation, in a still hot bath.  
Finally, Eve reached the door and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the packages. She thought they could have been stolen for a long time. Joyful Eve went straight to the bathroom. Remembering that all ordered products should be in plastic vacuum packaging, Eve without hesitation shook the bag into the water. The black marker with which Villanelle wrote the message disappeared instantly due to hot water and soap.  
Eve noticed marmalade only the next day.  
\- It's great that I don’t remember how I order treats - a surprise from myself, - Eve thought.


	2. Iris "Kiss-kiss"

She decided to kill the fly with a knife. For two hours, Villanelle threw a well-sharpened blade in opposite directions, until she cut two pillows and left a scratch on the window pane. The insect continued to fly around the room, then sat on the wall, behind which lived an elderly gentleman, forever dissatisfied with the behavior of his eccentric neighbor. Villanelle slowly pulled a gun from her pink bathrobe and fired into the wall.  
\- Gotcha!  
There was a deep round pothole in the wall, pieces of cement and plaster fell off, forming a solid pile on the floor. Only the silence could testify to the death of the fly, because Vi could not find the body of the insect. Footsteps were heard on the landing, and then someone knocked mercilessly on the door. The girl was wary, she put the gun deeper into the large pocket of her free bathrobe and slowly, on tiptoe, went to the door.  
\- Open the door, you bloody shrew, I know you're there! - the neighbor shouted.  
Villanelle even flinched, but quickly regained consciousness, imposingly headed for the door and without hesitation turned the lock.  
\- Hello – hel…  
The neighbor rudely pushed the door, which is why Villanelle stepped back, opening access to the apartment. An elderly neighbor, without the permission of the landlady, walked down the corridor and was about to head to the bedroom when Vi grabbed him by the collar and escorted to the landing by force. She simply didn’t want to explain why there was a bullet hole in her wall.  
\- What do you think you’re doing, bloody wretch? - the neighbor yelled.  
\- Social distance, just what the doctor ordered! - parried the girl.  
This remark sobered up the man, and he walked two meters from the Villanelle’s door.  
\- I don’t know what the hell is going on in your apartment all the time, but if I hear a noise even once, I won’t distract the police from patrolling the streets in these difficult times and I’ll deal with you personally, worthless girl.  
Having finished this phrase, the neighbor rushed to his apartment and slammed the door loudly.  
Villanelle only grinned and said:  
\- Let's see who will win.  
Vi lay down on the bed to reflect what had happened and vaguely caught the heartbreaking sense in the solar plexus. With a little thought and listening to herself, Villanelle realized that this was anger. She did not know what irritated her more: the very appearance of her neighbor, his words like “wretch” and “worthless girl” or how this old Victorian snob treated his wife.  
Konstantin told her this story. Prior to retirement, Oksana's neighbor worked as a teacher in a private boys' school. There were rumors that he experienced perverse pleasure when he called for the flogging to be returned to school at every teachers' council. Having never realized his desire on little boys, he decided to try this technique on his wife. It all started with games and fun in bed, but over time, the line changed to a whip, and spanking turned into daily beatings. It was a drug that he once sat down on and could no longer refuse. Once his wife caught a serious cold and wanted to go to the hospital, but her husband said that he would take her to the hospital when the bruises heal on her face. However, he did not stop beating her every day until one morning he found her lifeless body in the corridor, next to the wall-mounted telephone. The man entrusted the funeral to his wife's relatives and, under the guise of unbearable sorrow, the next day threw away all her things. The rest of his life the man lived alone. Upon retiring, he acquired a strange hobby: the old man began to grow so many flowers in the apartment that he developed an allergy, acquired asthma, and a sugary smell from the apartment was felt throughout the stairwell.  
Because of thoughts about flowers and family life, Villanelle remembered Eve. It has been almost two weeks since she sent her marmalades. Vi did not receive any news from Eve or from anyone else. Even Konstantin stopped coming. Mood spoiled, thoughts darkened.  
"What if Eve got my marmalade and threw it away? I tried ... What if she didn’t get them? Can I call the same courier to the apartment and kill him? I kept his number. Oh, I can order a bunch of food and kill all couriers. Double delivery: food for the mind and body. It is a pity that «The Twelwe» does not provide the service "home-delivery murder». I would at least go for a walk ... "  
Villanelle herself did not notice how she groped a small tennis ball under the bed and began to throw it at the wall. She did not even notice that again it was neighbor’s wall. The girl spent twenty minutes in oblivion when she was pulled out of her dreams by another loud knock on the door. Villanelle caught herself and stared at the wall. There was no doubt that this is a neighbor. A loud knock continued, but Vi was in no hurry because she perfectly understood how the second meeting with her neighbor would end. She went to her dresser and opened an arsenal.  
She touched with her fingers the knives, guns, hairpins, tuning forks, until she finally settled on a small metal garden scoop. To tell you the truth, Villanelle bought it for its intended use. But the flowers demanded such care and were so, in her opinion, capricious that the girl just sharpened the scoop and sent it to the weapon box.  
The gun with which Villanelle was played in the morning fell out of the wide pocket of the housecoat and remained lying on the bed, and a garden scoop took its place. The girl moved decisively toward the door and opened it to the intruder.  
\- What did I tell you? - the neighbor began to shout, but Villanelle grabbed him by the throat and pushed into the apartment opposite. As soon as the couple crossed the threshold, the girl slammed the door with her foot, pulled out a scoop from her pocket and stuck it in the old man’s throat.  
After blood poured from a neighbor’s throat, Villanelle pulled a scoop from his neck and stuck it in the stomach of her victim. While the man was writhing on the floor in his death throes, Vi stepping over the body, went to the refrigerator and began to take out food from the freezer to make free space. She could not find anything to her taste, so all the food flew into the trash can. While blood was spreading across the floor, Villanelle walked around the room as if searching for something. Finally, when the man gave up his breath, the girl found the thing she needed. In the far corner of the room stood an ax.  
She dressed herself in one of the shirts of her dead neighbor, wrapped the second around her waist and began to chop the body into pieces with the dexterity of a professional butcher. Filling the freezer, Villanelle thought only that due to quarantine the body would not be found soon, and she did not want the decaying body to stink on the whole porch. The thought of the stench gave her another idea.  
Having finished with the body, Villanelle started pulling out of the pots and trampling all the flowers that came in her way, until she reached a huge tub with bright blue irises. She caught herself in a strange thought that their wide, curly petals reminded her of Eve's lion's mane. Vi was angry with herself for this thought and brought her hand with a scoop over the tub, but stopped abruptly. The flowers were too beautiful.  
Villanelle realized that her work was finished. She must pick up the flowers and go back to her place. Around the killer were scattered broken tubs, trampled flowers, earth, and the door of a snow-white refrigerator was smeared with blood, like the floor in the hallway. Villanelle looked around smugly, grabbed a tub and dragged it to her apartment.  
For several hours she sat silently next to the irises, meditatively stroking the petals, as if they were someone's curls. Finally, a smile began to appear on her face. She picked up the phone, wrote the message «Immediately come to me. Grab the toffee with chocolate», found «Courier» contact in the phone book and sent a message. To brighten up the waiting time, the girl began to carefully cut the stems of the iris and put the flowers in a bouquet.  
Just half an hour later, she explained to the frightened guy a new mission. He had to go to Eve’s house (he already knew the address), put flowers and a bag of toffee at the threshold, put a note «From Villanelle» on them, knock on the door and, hiding nearby, make sure that Eve brought presents to the house, and not thrown it into the nearest garbage can.

Eve was distracted by a knock on the door. She watched a comedy series. It was not possible to work - the stress and fatigue accumulated over the entire time of work without holidays made themselves felt. Eve just wanted to be distracted by something positive and she succeeded. She laughed merrily, chewed chips and drank beer. However, she flinched when she heard a knock. From a sharp contraction of the muscles, the bowl of chips on the woman’s stomach tumbled and all the food fell to the floor. “Who the hell could it be,” Eve thought, torn between opening the door or tidying up the room. Finally, she opened the door and saw flowers. No one around. A chill ran through her body due to a hunch that struck her. Only one person in the world left her “gifts” on the doorstep of the house. Eve slowly bent over to pick flowers, then straightened abruptly and returned to the apartment for the sanitizer to sprinkle a bouquet and packing of toffee.  
"Oh, times, you don't know who to fear more," Eve thought.  
At first she wanted to throw everything away, but when she saw the dirty and greasy lid of the trash can, she decided that it was better to return home with gifts. It’s better to bring flowers into the house and throw them into your own trash. While Eve washed her hands and rubbed the doorhandle with the sanitizer, her anger gradually passed. She glanced at the bright blue flowers on the table. Finally, she decided to put flowers in a vase.  
All evening she looked at the note "From Villanelle" in her hands, and late at night, when she realized that she wanted something sweet, she decided to open the toffee. They were divine, soft, fresh. Eve closed her eyes in delight, but suddenly opened them because she heard a crack in her mouth. She began to chew toffee faster and feel with her tongue that there are some stones in the candy. Eve spat the toffee in the urn, ran to the mirror and opened her mouth wide. There was no dental amalgam in the posterior molar tooth.  
– Damn fucking Villanelle! - Eve yelled at the whole apartment.  
A new outburst of anger ended when Eve tore and threw out a note from Vi, but still did not touch the flowers.  
There was nothing to do. Despite quarantine, private dental clinics continued to serve customers. The tooth required treatment. Eve cursed Villanelle for causing unnecessary problems, stress and financial costs. She went to the clinic’s website, signed up for the nearest free window, marked “acute pain” and calmed down only when the clinic confirmed the time of admission.  
The next day, Eve, armed with masks, gloves and sanitizers, went to the clinic. All the way she swore out loud with an imaginary Villanelle.  
At the clinic, she felt uneasy, because she was afraid of dentists and toothache. When the managers called the cabinet number, Eve, shaking with fear, slowly went to the place of execution. Not finding a doctor in the room, she independently sat in a chair and closed her eyes.  
Eve began to breathe deeply to calm herself. She almost pulled herself together when footsteps were heard from behind. Someone entered the room and closed the door.  
\- Hi, Eve!  
Heat ran from head to toe. Eve opened her eyes wide. She recognized this female voice.


	3. Now I will hurt you

Eve tried to get out of the dental chair, the back of which was reclined so much that from the side the woman looked more like a bug trying to roll over on its paws. Villanelle rushed to the chair and the next moment was already sitting on Eve. She grabbed Eve's hands and tried to pin them to the back of the chair. A fight ensued between the girls.   
When Eve was exhausted and surrendered, Villanelle looked with her foot on the floor, found and pressed the pedal, which regulates the height of the chair. The back floated smoothly down. Villanelle leaned more and more on Eve: first they touched their breasts, and then their bellies. When the chair stopped, Vi tightly squeezed Eve's legs between her legs. All this time, the girls inextricably looked into each other's eyes.  
Villanelle was dizzy from this contact, she was breathing heavily, her emotions began to cloud her mind: Vi bent lower and barely perceptibly touched the tip of Eve's nose with her nose, but then recoiled. She was scared by how grotesque dreams look in reality.  
Obviously, Villanelle often thought of Eve, in all senses and manifestations of the word, but she herself did not believe that dreams would ever come true. She did not make that far. In truth, she wanted to jump from Eve and run away to cope with emotions overwhelming her body, she wanted to hide in a house made of a blanket and a table, which children usually make, and there to eat happiness with a small spoon. Slowly, in silence.  
On the other hand, Villanelle understood that she could take more from the moment and realize that happiness has no limit. She tried to make herself look relaxed and asked:  
\- You probably want to ask what am I doing here?  
\- I ... I ..., - began, stammering, Eve, - to be honest, I want to ask ... Does anyone take care of my tooth today?  
A stupid and simple-minded question made Villanelle completely recover. She released Eve's arms, but continued to sit astride, still squeezing the captive's legs.  
\- I actually missed you, huh? - Villanelle tried to send the dialogue in the right direction.  
\- And you sent me this toffee in order to split my dental filling and we would meet at the clinic? - asked Eve.  
\- Do you think I'm working for the Illuminati? How was I supposed to find out that your dental filling will crack?! I just wanted you to remember me, I wanted to please you ... - Villanelle began to explain.  
\- You ... - Eve began uncertainly, - did you kill the doctor who was supposed to treat me today?  
Eve's questions began to annoy Villanelle, because they had no meaning.  
\- No, I didn’t kill him, - Villanelle answered confidently, and then a playful smile appeared on her lips, - I killed someone else.  
Eve thought for a few seconds about whether she wanted to know about another murder or not, but nevertheless curiosity prevailed.  
\- Whom? - she asked timidly.  
\- Those flowers, did you get the flowers? - asked Villanelle.  
\- Yes...  
\- I had to kill a man in order to get this beauty for you. I sent some of the flowers to you, and laid some on his grave in the refrigerator.  
Eve was seized with anger and disgust. She really liked the flowers, but the news that they belonged to a dead man made her nauseous. In the end, Villanelle could be generous with the normal delivery of fresh flowers from the salon and not kill anyone.  
Not really aware of her actions, Eve jerked one drill out of the nest and put it to the killer's hand, making a frantic, furious growl. According to her idea, the drill should automatically turn on, and the tip should make a wound in Villanelle's skin. Eve would have taken advantage of Vi's confusion, but not only the drill did not turn on, there was no tip on it either. Then Eve just threw the drill into the girl's forehead.  
All this time, Villanelle, with a questioning expression on her face, tried to understand what Eve was doing (at first she thought that Eve decided to self-medicate), but a blow to her forehead brought her to her senses. In addition to the forehead, the girl's hairstyle also suffered: a large strand of Vi's hair was released from the bundle. This made her angry.   
Villanelle did not want to do what she did, but her instincts were stronger. She grabbed the cord of the drill, wrapped it around Eve's neck and began to strangle her. As Villanelle leaned all over her victim, their noses almost touched again. Eve tried to scream, but Villanelle's grip was too strong. The woman's face began to blush. Eve pulled herself together, looked straight into Villanelle's eyes, and began to slowly raise her right hand. Then Eve easily grabbed the strand of hair that fell out and, trying to do it very gently, put it behind Villanelle's ear, and then touched the girl's cheek with her hand.  
After a few seconds, the grip loosened. This time, Villanelle could not cope with her emotions. She threw the drill cord to one side, got up from the chair, sat on a stool nearby, and turned away. Eve cleared her throat and regained consciousness. Finally, silence fell in the room.  
\- Did you get marmalade? asked Villanelle quietly, not turning to Eve.  
Eve did not understand what Villanelle was talking about, but she knew that further dialogue depended on her answer to the question. She began to think frantically until she remembered that “accidentally bought” bag of heart-shaped marmalade. Eve breathed a sigh of relief and confidently blurted out:  
\- Yes, exactly, yes, I received them!  
\- Why didn’t you answer my message? - asked Villanelle, still not turning.  
Eve did not know what to answer, so she simply decided to tell the truth.  
\- I didn’t know that they were from you, - Eve tried to make a motherly gentle voice so that Villanelle would not upset even more.  
\- I left the inscription on the packaging, - said Villanelle discontentedly, losing patience.  
Eve was silent for a moment. She really did not understand what it was about, but she would really like the situation to be reversed.  
\- I was lying in the bath... - Eve began, and noticed that after these words Villanelle turned slightly in her direction, - and read one article about how to wash food packages during a pandemic. The courier just brought me food packages that I forgot about at all. I ran to the door, took the groceries, returned to the bathroom and immediately poured everything into hot water. Probably, the inscription simply disappeared, and I decided that I ordered marmalade myself.  
Villanelle began to laugh quietly so that Eve would not hear, then made a satisfied mug and finally turned. Eve's face was frightened, she even jumped when she saw the killer’s eyes.  
Villanelle slowly got up, saucily went to the tool table, found a dental mirror, medical gloves, mask, face shield, syringe and took out an ampoule from her pants pocket. Eve stared stupidly at Villanelle, who was wearing a mask and a face shield.  
\- I learned this in case I have a toothache during the assignment and don’t have time to see a doctor, - Villanelle said confidently and calmly, - don’t be afraid, I’ll do it right.  
Vi put on her gloves, took a syringe and filled it with liquid from her ampoule.  
\- Now I will hurt you.  
Villanelle stepped quickly to Eve and stuck a needle in her neck.  
\- What did you inject me with? What did you inject? - Eve repeated hysterically until she realized that the room was floating in her eyes, her eyelids were heavy, and her body stopped listening.  
Eve woke up from the fact that someone hit her on the cheeks. She tried to focus her gaze. The first thing she managed to see was a wall clock: she slept for about an hour. She was beaten on the cheeks by a young doctor who constantly repeated "Are you all right?" Eve felt the hole in her tooth with her tongue and realized that still there was no dental filling. She asked the doctor what happened.  
\- The doctor who was transferred to us today from another branch of the clinic said that you fainted at the sight of a drill. In addition, she said that before losing consciousness, you yelled heartbrokenly and asked that a man treat you. Here I am, - the doctor finished the explanation, pointing a finger at himself.  
\- Ah, yes, yes, I asked, - Eve sighed in relief. - Doctor, please cure me faster.  
Finally, Eve, exhausted, made her way home. Her head hurt from a mixture of anesthesia and that unknown liquid that Villanelle injected into her neck. On the way back, Eve had already forgotten all the rules, so she did not even put a mask on her face, because of which her swearing with imaginary Villanelle would have heard the whole street if someone had been on it. Eve just wanted to go home, take a shower and go to bed.  
When Eve undressed in the bathroom and tried to turn on the water, not a drop came out of the tap. She turned out the handles with all their might, but the water did not go. Eve began to curse the whole world, but eventually resigned herself and decided to call a plumber. She really hoped that he would come at least in a mask and not become a threat of the spread of the virus in her house. Eve sat wearily down on a chair in the kitchen and lost in thought. Anesthesia still intoxicated her, so she could not focus on one thing. After a while, the doorbell rang.  
Eve walked slowly toward the door with the sanitizer in her hands, ready to meet the plumber fully armed. She opened the door and stood still. Villanelle stood on the doorstep in a gray plumber suit, wearing a black cap that hid her hair and had a mustache attached. This time, Eve acted faster: she tore off the mustache from Villanelle's face, threw them and slammed the door.


	4. Another trap

Villanelle kicked the door hard and entered Eve’s apartment.  
\- Are you crazy? - Eve screamed at her.  
\- Yes, - said Villanelle calmly and tried to close the door, but then remembered that she had broken Eve’s lock a second ago.  
Eve caught her breath, and then yelled with renewed vigor:  
\- Don't get close to me!  
\- Eve, I'm not here to kill you, you know, - said Villanelle as calmly as possible.  
Eve had some kind of nervous paralysis, she forgot all the words, could not concentrate and explain what she wanted. She whirled around, wondering how appropriate her actions would be now, but then she nevertheless grabbed the sanitizer and began spraying the guest, shouting "Pest!".  
A few drops of the sanitizer fell into Villanelle’s eyes, which is why an angry girl kicked the bottle out of her opponent’s hands. There was silence in the apartment. It was only heard how two women breathe loudly and how a plastic bottle hits the floor.  
Villanelle blinked incessantly, and Eve rubbed her bruised palm. Finally, when complete silence was established, Eve tried to explain herself.  
\- I wanted to say that we need to sanitize your clothes and hands.  
She slowly reached for the tool bag that Villanelle had brought, and carefully took it to herself.  
\- I'll wash them, - Eve said calmly. She hoped to gain access to the toolbox and see if there was a gun or a sharpener.  
\- Eve ... - Villanelle said disappointedly, - I came because you have no water in your house!  
Eve looked at the girl for several minutes, trying to imagine what a fool she was now considering her, then carefully put the box on the floor and suggested:  
\- Then the sanitizer?  
Finally, after Villanelle complied with all Eve’s instructions, she took off her gray heavy plumber jacket, hung it on a hook in the hallway, picked up a toolbox and went to Eve’s bathroom.  
\- Why did you break my pipes? You could come to me without a reason ... - Eve began the conversation to end the tense silence.  
\- I wanted to surprise you, - Villanelle shouted from the bathroom.  
\- Can you really fix it? You haven’t cured my teeth, - Eve asked anxiously.  
\- I don’t know, I’ve never repaired pipes before, - answered Villanelle, - I just break them. Usually, after my visit, the owners no longer needed to wash themselves. Never again.  
Eve felt sick. She returned to the hallway and decided to check the girl’s uniform. What if the killer left a knife in her jacket, and Eve could use it if necessary? But instead of a knife, she accidentally found the keys in the pocket. "She must have a chic, spacious apartment, in which the bathroom works perfectly and a good water pressure," - thought Eve. At this moment, she felt tired and remembered that even her hands had not been washed after the clinic. She imagined how hot water hisses in a tap.  
Eve did not notice that Villanelle went out of the bathroom into the corridor and now stood behind her.  
“Do you want to go to my apartment?” said Villanelle, nodding at the keys in Eve's hands.  
\- I ... yes! - jokingly answered Eve.  
\- Poland Street, 57. Great view, Soho. As far as I remember, you are not indifferent to Poland and the Poles ...  
Eve did not think that Villanelle would take her words seriously. She absolutely did not want to move to the killer’s apartment. In addition, quarantine could be tightened at any time and, once having come to Villanelle, she would have to stay there for a long time. Eve decided to ask a neutral question in order to change the topic of dialogue:  
\- How is the water there?  
\- I can’t fix the valve, I will try again, - Villanelle answered and closed herself in the bathroom again.  
The plan began to ripen in Eve's head. She became so angry at the troublemaker and so much wanted to wash herself that she rushed into her room without hesitation, put all the necessary things in a backpack, put Villanelle’s keys in pocket, then called a taxi using a mobile application and quietly leaked out onto the street while Villanelle rustled in the bathroom.  
Standing on the street, Eve shifted from foot to foot. She was worried that Villanelle would notice her absence and drag her back into the house. It seemed to her that a taxi drove to the house for ages. Finally, the car parked. Eve quickly sat in the back seat and asked for reliability:  
\- Poland Street 57?  
\- Yes.  
Taxi hit the road.  
A few minutes later, Eve stood in the middle of an expensive street in the heart of London. There was not a soul around. Rows of trading houses stretched along the street. Eve was always content with her modest dwelling and did not think about whether Soho was sold to private clients. However, remembering that it was about Villanelle, she decided that everything is possible in the life of this girl. She began to search for house number 57, while thinking about how deserted and lonely the numerous coffee houses and sushi bars looked. Finally, she found the address she needed, but realized that there was an office building in front of her, in which the florist neighbor would hardly have lived.  
Eve realized that Villanelle had fooled her, and she completely in vain entrusted her own home to a psychopathic killer. Among other things, Eve risked her health. She did not have the strength to be angry, so she was ready to cry when another car appeared on the street.  
Eve did not notice this, as she did not notice that someone was approaching her. A soft female hand touched her shoulder. Villanelle stood next to Eve. She pretended to be looking at the house, and then completely at ease, as if on a walk, said:  
\- I knew that you would believe, - Villanelle took her hand off Eve’s shoulder, turned around and headed toward the taxi, - let's go, I'll take you to my place.  
Finally, Eve was in the bath under a stream of hot water. She thought that Villanelle would never know what Eve was doing in the bathroom, so she tried all the watering can modes, stared at the golden taps for a few minutes, imagined that she was in her apartment. After the water washed away the fatigue, Eve finally realized that she succumbed to the provocation and ended up in the killer’s house. The bathroom no longer seemed so pleasant, so Eve quickly washed off the foam, dried her body and dressed in clothes brought from home. When she left the bathroom, Villanelle hosted the kitchen. More precisely, she cooked her signature dish - fried sausages. Eve sat down at the kitchen table and looked around. The apartment, though not in Soho, was really luxurious. Sensing the smell of sausages, Eve realized that she was hungry, and the feeling of hunger reminded her about the house. She suddenly realized that Villanelle had left her apartment unlocked, and even with a broken water supply.  
\- You ... - Eve began uncertainly, - did you leave my apartment unlocked and with broken pipes?  
\- No, - said Villanelle indifferently, not distracting from the stove, - I fixed the water supply.  
\- Then why did you take me to your place? - Eve tried to control herself, because she was afraid to anger Villanelle on her territory.  
\- Because you wanted to come to me, - Villanelle picked up a perfectly logical argument.  
\- And now I want to go to my place, - Eve said carefully, because she was afraid to understand that she was captured by the killer.  
\- I fixed the entrance lock, too, - the landlady answered indifferently again.  
\- Good, thanks, then I'll go home, - Eve got up from her chair and headed for the backpack with her things.  
\- I repaired the lock, so your keys won't work, - Villanelle said casually, licking honey from her kitchen scoop.  
Eve froze in place and closed her eyes. The trap has closed.  
\- What do you want from me? Eve asked hopelessly, slowly turning to Villanelle.  
\- I want you to live with me a little bit, - the girl replied, making the face of a capricious child who was always begging for sweets from her parents.  
\- Will you give me the keys if I live with you for a couple of days? - Eve simply did not have the strength to argue. In the Villanelle’s room, a wide bed beckoned to her.  
\- We'll see, - the girl answered.  
The rest of the day they sat in complete silence. Sausages remained in the pan. Villanelle sat with a laptop, and Eve was afraid that the landlady would get a gun at any moment and shoot her. Both felt uncomfortable, both were strained by such close proximity. Even Villanelle could not focus on anything. It seemed to her that the prank failed, the magic did not work. No sparks. Only fear of new unknown feelings. Finally, from the nervous strain and shocks of the day, Eve simply fell asleep, lying across Villanelle's bed.  
Noticing this, the girl looked indignantly at her new neighbor for several minutes, and when Eve started snoring, Villanelle took out a camping sleeping bag and lay on the sofa in the living room, covering her ears with a pillow.  
The next day there was a knock on the door. Eve sat in the hall and watched TV, so she did not hear a knock. Villanelle was lost in thought. As a result, the door lock turned itself and Konstantin entered the apartment. He was surprised that Villanelle did not meet him or prepare any trap. He slowly walked to the kitchen and saw that Villanelle was sitting alone in front of the table, not moving, and the TV was making noise in the hall.  
\- Why did you turn on the TV if you don't watch it? - asked Konstantin, feeling that something was wrong here.  
\- Eve, please make the sound quieter! - shouted Villanelle loudly.  
\- E ... - Eve? Here? Are you kidding? - Konstantin rushed into the hall to see with his own eyes Eve Polastri in Villanelle's apartment.  
\- Eve, what are you doing here? - Konstantin asked in surprise.  
\- She entered my house, lured me out of it, changed the lock and does not give the keys, - Eve reported. Apparently, she thought for a long time about the whole chain of events that led to the outcome.  
\- Why didn't you call a locksmith?  
Eve stared blankly at Konstantin, then turned to the TV and made it even louder than before.  
Konstantin did not close the door lock, so everyone was distracted by the loud bang of the front door. All three peered out into the corridor. Workers tried to squeeze a new cot into the apartment.


	5. Love's Labour's Lost

Villanelle gestured to the workers where they should put the cot, after which they left as quickly as they appeared on the doorstep. Konstantin looked expressively at Villanelle, and she looked straight ahead, pretending not to notice the guest.  
\- This cot is for me, because I want my dear guest Eve to sleep in the wide bed, - Villanelle said loudly, so that Konstantin would finally stop staring at her.  
\- So sweet, - Eve turned away from the TV and smiled sarcastically, - but it would be better if you hadn’t killed Bill.  
Konstantin laughed. Both girls looked at him reproachfully, so he had to shut up. He pretended to cough. There was an awkward pause.  
\- So, Eve, - Konstantin decided to break the silence that was his fault, - are you living with Villanelle now?  
\- I still don't understand what I'm doing here, - Eve answered, watching TV.  
\- I don’t understand what she’s doing here, either, - Villanelle whispered to Konstantin’s ear and took him aside.  
She looked around the kitchen, but then took Konstantin's hand and led him into the bathroom. The girl closed the door behind her.  
\- I'm depressed, - Villanelle said discontentedly, looking down at her feet.  
Konstantin sat on the edge of the bathroom and prepared to listen. He realized that his ward was again trying to reflect feelings previously unknown to her. Villanelle pulled a chair to her, which stood by the washbasin and prepared to speak. An improvised psychotherapy session began.  
\- It used to be like I was trying to catch a beautiful butterfly in the field. I liked this feeling of excitement. I liked that she flew away from me, and I continued to chase.  
\- And sometimes this butterfly tried to catch you and kill you, - Konstantin added to the story.  
\- Yes! And now this butterfly is sitting in my bedroom and does not say a word. And sleeps on my bed! Alone! Across! - Villanelle tried to whisper, but it became harder to restrain herself.  
\- So let her go ... - said Konstantin, - let her fly away.  
\- I'm afraid that she will fly away forever and I will never get a second chance. Or someone else will catch her. This is so strange. For the past two years, I went to bed thinking: how is Eve? I tried to imagine with whom she was sleeping, where she was sleeping, what dreams she had. Now I ask myself the same questions, but I immediately find the answers to it. Here she is, on my bed, snoring!  
\- Does Eve snore? - Konstantin asked, trying not to laugh.  
\- She's breathing out loud, okay? - snapped Villanelle. Too loud and too close. So hard, so calm, so slow ... and so loud! I feel ... I feel fear. I almost forgot that feeling.  
The smile disappeared from Konstantin's face. Still playing along with Villanelle, he said more firmly:  
\- Let her go.  
\- I have to discuss everything with her, -Villanelle pretended to not hear him.  
Konstantin rolled his eyes, imagining how Eve calmly, over tea, discussing with the killer this knife wound in Paris, the death of Bill and Eve’s destroyed marriage. He slapped his knees, got up and left the bathroom, and then headed for the door. Villanelle followed him. On the doorstep of the apartment, Konstantin turned and quietly said: if you feel that you can stand the conversation and it will help you, talk to her. But do not be silly.  
Konstantin left. When he got into the car, he pulled out his cell phone and wrote a message to Eve: "Be softer with her." When Eve received this message, she threw the phone onto a new cot and continued to watch TV.  
Silence continued until the evening. Villanelle sat in the kitchen and tried to understand the reasons for her fear. Eve could not harm her, but the girl’s heart was beating furiously, she was slightly nauseous, as during severe stress. Eve pretended to watch TV, but if someone asked her what programs she had watched all day, she could not answer. All day she thought over Konstantin’s words about a locksmith.  
Finally, nature prevailed and both girls realized that they were insanely hungry and did not eat anything in a day. Villanelle was so afraid to go to Eve and speak with her that she decided to starve to death. But Eve took the first step herself. When Villanelle heard that the television turned off, her pulse increased. She noticed that Eve was leaving the bedroom, but decided to pretend that she did not notice her.  
\- Do you have food? - Eve said casually.  
Villanelle turned her head slowly, as if she didn’t want to tear herself away from her thoughts, and just as casually said:  
\- I just wanted to offer to order food. What do you prefer?  
\- I would eat something Chinese, for example, rice with chicken, - Eve answered calmly, trying to convince herself that she was talking with a friend and not with a killer.  
\- Well, I'll order everything now, -Villanelle said in the same relaxed manner.  
\- Actually, let's also order products for a few days? I could cook something for you.  
\- Or maybe you go to your home and cook there for yourself? - Villanelle snapped sarcastically, because she felt a lump treacherously roll up to her throat. She blinked more often. Nobody cared about Villanelle, so she was pissed off by Eve’s offer.  
\- I can cook for you and leave, then you don’t have to order food constantly, - during the day Eve slowly but firmly came to the conclusion that it was impossible to miss an opportunity. She should start a conversation with Villanelle and try to understand her. Try to understand why Bill?  
A tear dropped on Villanelle's hand. She quickly wiped it with her other hand, but Eve did not notice anything.   
\- Good, - Vi answered calmly, - I will also order groceries.  
\- Fine, I could make a list! - Eve thought she made contact with the girl.  
\- Well, write it while I order dinner.  
The girls were again in different corners of a large apartment. Eve rejoiced at her success, but Villanelle’s feelings burned her heart so much that fear gave way to rage, and she decided that it was easier to kill Eve and get rid of suffering. Eve's death is the cure. When ordering food, she began to think of a suitable way of killing. Due to the abundance of emotions, it burned behind the sternum, so the girl instinctively put her hand on her heart and began to massage in a circular motion the upper part of her left breast. She was completely lost in thought, so she did not notice how Eve came up from behind.  
\- Here's a list of groceries, - Eve said, holding out a piece of paper.  
Villanelle screamed and jumped. Eve said this so at ease that Villanelle drove away the thought of murder, got up from her chair and headed for the bedroom.  
\- Could you order everything yourself? I feel bad. All the same to me as to you.  
Now it was Villanelle's turn to fall across the bed.  
\- Uh, okay, - Eve was surprised, but her empty stomach made itself felt, so she sat down at the table without hesitation, pulled up the laptop and made all the necessary purchases in a couple of minutes. Villanelle left a credit card on the table. What a hospitality.  
First came a courier with groceries, then a courier with Chinese food. Finally, the girls were able to sit down to dinner.  
\- They brought us dinner, - Eve shouted, amazed at how unusually trivial phrases sound when you talk to the killer.  
Pale Villanelle got out of bed and headed for the kitchen, still periodically massaging her heart.  
Eve started table setting, boiled the kettle, sat down and, without waiting for Villanelle, started to eat. She had already eaten almost half of the rice when she noticed that her pale co-cooker had barely touched food and was massaging her heart.  
\- What's wrong with you? - Eve asked worriedly.  
\- You scared me, because of this my heart hurts, - Vi tried to blame Eve for this misfortune.  
\- I thought the Twelve was watching your health.  
\- I never had health problems, - it was clear from Villanelle's face that she was seriously worried about her condition.  
\- Describe the symptoms, - Eve suggested.  
Villanelle closed her eyes, she wanted to avoid another session of psychoanalysis. But then she gave up.  
\- I feel fear; I am scared to nausea. It is getting dark in my eyes. My heart is pounding, although I'm sitting calmly. Heat runs through my body, but it shakes me from the cold.  
Due to the symptoms described, Eve felt uneasy. She decided to test her guess.  
\- When it started?  
\- As soon as you moved in with me, Eve, - Villanelle looked straight into the eyes of her guest, - you won, Eve, I'm afraid of you.  
Eve almost laughed after this phrase, but suppressed the urge to smile. She slowly took Villanelle's hand in her hands, felt for a pulse with her thumb, and finally smiled unable to stand it. Heat spread over Villanelle's body from the tips of toes to head. Eve looked up at Villanelle.  
\- Have you ever fallen in love?  
Villanelle's eyes sparkled, an expression of fright gave way to anger. She abruptly pulled out her palm from Eve's hands and began to eat. She finally understood the cause of her illness and her appetite returned.


	6. Heart-to-Heart Talk

When all the rice was eaten, Eve offered to drink some wine. She wanted to relax, besides that, she believed that Villanelle should also calm down.  
\- I don't drink, - Villanelle answered blankly, looking thoughtfully off to the side.  
\- Well, then I will drink alone, if you do not mind, - Eve got up from the table and went to the refrigerator. It seemed obvious to her that the question was rhetorical.  
\- I do mind, - the landlady answered in the same quiet and drooping voice.  
Eve looked at her carefully, trying to guess the emotions. Villanelle's face, in essence, did not express anything, but it was clear that she was not joking. Eve turned and sat down.  
There was silence. Both girls knew that this was the very moment. The moment of "heart-to-heart talk". Eve finally realized what emotion froze on Villanelle's face. It was an expression of fatality, inevitability. They should discuss everything that happened between them. But when you open Pandora's box indoors, get ready to put out the fires of anger with cold rationality. To begin such conversations with the killer is like playing chess with death.  
\- Well, Eve, that’s the time to talk, - Villanelle leaned forward and laid her hands on the table.  
Eve was silent and looked directly into the girl's eyes.  
\- And yet, I'm afraid of you, Eve, because this time you can do it to the end. Where are you going to stab me this time? - Villanelle leaned back in her chair, as if she had thrown a trump card on the table and was waiting for an answer.  
\- I will never forgive myself ... - Eve began, but Villanelle, feeling rage, again seized the initiative.  
\- Although you know, I'm glad you tried to kill me. At least you did something for me. Usually, I entertained you like a clown. How many corpses, how much blood, how much creativity, and all for you alone, so that you don’t get bored in Germany, in England, in Russia. And you never said «thank you»!  
\- «Thank you» for what? - Eve asked, trying to contain her anger. Her voice was trembling.  
\- Admit it, Eve, I made your dull, worthless life with a Polish mustached teacher a little brighter.  
Eve was ready to attack Villanelle, but remembered how it ended the last time. She didn’t want to stand pressed back to the refrigerator with a knife at her throat.  
\- You ruined my marriage, - Eve said as calmly as possible. She understood that she was talking with a psychopath, so some ordinary human feelings need to be patiently explained.  
\- And again, you should be grateful to me, because this Polish lard has slowed you down, - retorted Villanelle.  
\- Like Bill? - a tear rolled down Eve's cheek. She so wanted to get up, scream at the whole house and hit Villanelle because she did not understand what kind of pain she had caused.  
\- Like Bill, - Vi answered calmly.  
Villanelle held out her hand to Eve's face to brush away a tear, but Eve hit the girl's palm harder than she wanted.  
\- Seriously? - grinned Villanelle, - Let's look at the situation sensibly, Eve.  
Villanelle leaned forward again, laid her hands on the table and interlocked her fingers.  
\- How often do MI6 employees go on a mission alone? What did Bill count on when he followed me through all of Berlin? Didn’t he see me stop and wait for him when the tram separated us? He thought he would grab my ear, scold me and send to a girls' correctional facility?  
It was hard for Eve from the feelings that covered her. She remembered how Bill was dying in her arms. On the other hand, she felt better because now she knew the circumstances of his murder.  
\- Did you really stop to wait for Bill? - Eve tried to behave as in a standard interrogation, as if it was an abstract murder.  
\- It was hard not to notice. The tram divided us by thirty seconds, but I stood exactly in the same place where Bill had lost sight of me.  
Eve's gaze became diffused. She saw the situation through the Villanelle’s eyes and now began to get angry at Bill: why did he go after the killer alone, why didn’t he call someone in London? Did he really want to catch the girl on his own?  
\- And now you, Eve, - Villanelle continued, - what were you counting on? When I got out of the car, instead of taking Frank to a safe place? You became so obsessed with me that you forgot about the safety of other people. Do you think you could arouse humanity in a killer-psychopath?  
Eve looked silently into Villanelle's eyes. Tears flowed one after another. She understood that the girl was absolutely right, and she could only be angry with herself. After all, she voluntarily connected her life with a man whose profession is to kill.  
\- And the last, Eve, - Villanelle decided to summarize, - there is only one explanation why you kept chasing me. You yourself don’t like your life and you yourself understand that I bring taste to it. I'm your drug.  
\- I already did it, - Eve said calmly.  
\- What? - Villanelle didn’t understand.  
\- I have already awakened the humanity in you, - said Eve and grabbed Villanelle's hand, trying to feel her pulse again.  
Villanelle sharply pulled out her hand and moved back. Her confidence immediately disappeared, she wanted to get up from the table and leave.  
They were silent for several minutes. Eve gathered her thoughts and resumed dialogue:  
\- Why should I be grateful to you for all these killings? - she asked.  
\- Because I did all this for you! - Villanelle shouted displeased, - but you didn’t appreciate my efforts!  
\- How can I appreciate the killings? You took people’s lives, - Eve said restrainedly. Her voice was still trembling.  
\- God, Eve, why do you care about people's lives! This is all bullshit. Look out the window! These people could die from the infection now, or they would die anyway sooner or later! - Villanelle began to get annoyed, - the fact is that you just run after me, emotionally react to the deaths of people who were not even close to you, and when, finally, you catch up with me - what do you feel? Boredom? Disappointment? Come on, run again, come up with more fun for me, Villanelle! But you don’t want to sacrifice anything for me!  
Eve gave up and decided to accept the rules of the game:  
\- Good, - she said aloud, - good! I admit that I can’t forget the moment when we met in the field. I admit that I was very scared when you put the gun to your chin. I was afraid that I would lose you without ever knowing better. I was angry with you when you entered my apartment, but I admit that I wanted you to come back. Since Niko moved away from me, I was hoping every night to hear the lock click. I admit that I would like to stay with you in Paris if this would have happened under other circumstances, in a different life... Every day I remember how I stuck a knife in your stomach and I can’t forgive myself for hurting you even more. Maybe I'm a psychopath too, but, God, I was madly glad to see a white brush in the murdered man’s mouth. I admit that I was glad to know that you were alive. I was furious when I saw a photograph of a dead boy, but at heart I exhaled noticing a bitten apple. I admit that I was glad to know that you were given medical care. And... Carolyn didn’t let me go to Amsterdam, although I asked her very much about it.  
Villanelle beamed.  
\- Can I ask you a question? - asked Eve.  
\- Yes, Eve, of course, - said Villanelle, not hiding her smile.  
\- Who is this person who could not hear you in any way? Why did you start to attract attention in the most radical ways?  
The smile faded from Villanelle's face. She turned away, shook her foot, and began to move her head from side to side. Then she froze.  
\- Would Freud say "mom"? - Villanelle asked Eve as if it were a quiz and there was the right answer.  
\- Why didn't she pay attention to you? - asked Eve.  
\- God, Eve, I was a difficult child. Probably. I don’t remember. She probably just pretended that I was not her daughter. It was easier for her.  
\- But you annoyed her even more to attract attention?  
For a second, it seemed to Eve that Villanelle began to realize the severity of her actions, but at the same moment the girl laughed out loud:   
\- Sooo awful stuff, - said Villanelle giggling.  
\- You can trust me, I won’t betray you, I won’t be like your mother, - said Eve with a tight smile, - in Paris you said that you wanted to meet a person with whom you could just watch movies in the evenings. We are not in Paris, but we can try.  
Villanelle's eyes sparkled childishly.  
\- Really? - she asked.  
\- Yes, - Eve answered, - you can go and choose a movie, and I will clean the kitchen.  
Villanelle jumped up and ran into the bedroom. Eve saw in this the joy of a child who brought his drawing from school, and parents said that it was a masterpiece. But this metaphor did not help to cope with the hatred of the girl. She carefully pushed out a drawer and found a Swiss army knife in it. It was very easy to find weapons in Villanelle's apartment.  
\- God forgive me ... again, - Eve said quietly, put the knife in her jeans pocket, and went into the bedroom.  
Villanelle and Eve sat on the floor in front of the TV, leaning their backs on the bed. Villanelle covered them with a blanket, turned on the film, and then laid her head on Eve's shoulder:  
\- You do not mind? - asked Villanelle.  
\- Not at all, - Eve said calmly and with a smile.  
She put her hands under the blanket and slowly began to take the knife out of her pocket.


	7. House of cards

Eve managed to pull the knife out of her pocket, and then carefully slide the blade out. It was harder to do, because Villanelle lay on the shoulder of the other hand. She would have felt if Eve had moved. It was necessary to move very slowly, and even better to push Villanelle off the shoulder. While Eve came up with other possible options, she didn’t notice how the movie plot captivated her. She continued to sit motionless with a knife under the blanket. Eve didn’t even feel how Villanelle put both hands under the blanket, snuggled up and hugged her tightly so that one of the girl’s hands was behind Eve’s back and the other on the belly. A few more minutes passed, when Villanelle sharply, as if catching a snake by the neck, grabbed Eve's hand, in which she held a knife. Vi pulled the blanket over, raised Eve’s hand high and began to shake it, either in the hope that Eve would drop the knife, or trying to say to the invisible audience: “here, gentlemen, just look what’s going on!”.  
Enchanted by what is happening on the screen, Eve, not looking up from the TV, said:  
\- We will discuss when the film will end.  
Struck by the extreme degree of concentration of her neighbor, Villanelle simply released Eve's hand that fell lifelessly to the floor with a loud bang. Eve put the knife aside, covered herself with a blanket and continued to follow the story. Villanelle was offended, moved away from Eve, took a second blanket and busily covered herself, pretending that she, too, was only interested in the film.  
In fact, the rest of the time she fidgeted nervously and hoped that the film would end soon. Choosing «Portrait of a Lady on Fire», Villanelle wanted to set the tone for romantic evening, but instead nearly died.  
Finally, the credits began. Villanelle picked up the words in her head to immediately make it clear how angry she was and that the conversation would be serious. But her initiative was rudely intercepted:  
\- Such deep dialogs, right? - Eve poked Villanelle on the side with her elbow.  
Villanelle opened her eyes wide and slowly turned to Eve.   
\- You're really a psychopath, Eve.  
The smile left Eve's face and she suddenly came to her senses:  
\- Ah, yes, a knife ... Oh, poor Bill ... will we still drink wine or not?  
Villanelle was breathing deeply, turned away from Eve and screamed loudly:  
\- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA  
Then she got to her feet, her gaze darted from side to side, as if she was trying to find a way out of a room that had become small for two, and finally blurted out in one breath:  
\- Eve, take your things and get out of my house right now, you are a traitor who tried to kill me twice, and in the same way! And take your cot! Now!  
Eve gently and quietly corrected:  
\- This is your cot.  
Villanelle yelled:  
\- Yes, this is my cot!  
Villanelle tried to catch her breath. The girls were silent for several minutes.  
\- Seriously, Eve, - Villanelle said calmly and restrainedly, - go away, please.  
Eve realized that it was better to leave now than to try to explain the appearance of the knife in her hands. She quickly packed up and got ready to call a taxi.  
\- Here are the keys, - Villanelle brought a bunch of keys to Eve’s new door lock. She hoped that this gesture would show Eve the seriousness of the situation. Villanelle no longer trusted her adversary and wasn’t glad to see her in the house.  
Eve quickly grabbed the keys, without looking back ran out of Villanelle's apartment, got into a taxi, and drove away.  
The keys came up, a well-oiled new lock opened smoothly. Eve stood on the threshold of her apartment. In a taxi, she thought about how many household worries and working questions probably had accumulated during this time. Eve decided that as soon as she arrived, she would immediately plunge into work with her head and would not allow herself to think about everything that had happened over the past few days. She was leaving with a calm heart. But as soon as Eve crossed the threshold of her apartment, she was overcome by suffocating loneliness. The apartment seemed gray, gloomy and very empty to her. Eve would say that the apartment seemed insipid to her. The point was not that the Villanelle apartment was brighter, the ceilings were higher, and the area was larger. The meaning was in the content itself.  
Staying in the same room with the killer made life sharp; with Villanelle, she always had to be careful, choose words, think and guess. At the same time, you can never predict how she will respond or react, so the game with each level became more interesting. Eve tried to turn on the light - it only got worse. The light only proved that the apartment was empty, that Villanelle hadn’t called a taxi and hadn’t arrived at Eve’s house before the landlady. Eve turned off the light and went to the refrigerator.  
\- Well, now I can drink, - she encouraged herself, pulling the bottle out of the refrigerator, but was immediately saddened by the thought that Villanelle would not let her do it.  
Eve went with a bottle of wine to the bedroom, opened her laptop and was about to watch a movie, but realized that watching movies would now always remind her that she had tried to kill Villanelle for the second time, and in the same way. There was only one solution: drink and wait. Finally, in the middle of the second bottle, Eve's mood improved, she turned on the light and music in the house and, dancing, drank wine just from the bottle. At the end of the second bottle, when it was already 3 a. m., Eve realized that she was definitely wrong, that she needed to call a taxi, go to Villanelle and apologize. The idea lived for exactly half an hour. For the first fifteen minutes, Eve tried to figure out how people put on jeans, because there were clearly two leg holes, but four legs. When Eve realized that she simply had double vision, she laughed for five minutes. For another five minutes, she tried to remember the address of Villanelle. The remaining five minutes, Eve wandered to the bed on which she fell asleep until morning. Asleep, she repeated several times, «I must, I must go».  
In the morning, her head hummed unbearably, so, following the basic needs, Eve only thought about pills, food and a bath. She had breakfast with a sandwich, drank a whole handful of pills, washed herself and went to bed back. In general, her day began in the evening. The memory gradually returned and Eve remembered that she had tried to go to Villanelle at night. In addition, after the hangover, the aching feeling of loneliness returned again. She decided that she needed to return to the girl's apartment.

There was a knock. Villanelle confidently headed for the door: this time Konstantin warned of his visit. However, when the girl opened, he was in no hurry to enter. Konstantin stood on the threshold and giggled quietly:  
\- Is Eve at home?  
\- What? - surprised Villanelle.  
\- Something tells me that she is not there, - Konstantin said and laughed.  
\- I kicked her out yesterday, - Villanelle answered coldly.  
\- Um, that’s how, - answered Konstantin, - well, that means he’s definitely for you.  
Konstantin stepped aside, a courier stood behind him with a bouquet of irises.  
Villanelle slowly reached for the bouquet, took a note out of it, unfolded and sharply threw away, as if she’s burnt.  
\- Eve? - Konstantin asked smiling.  
\- I don’t know what she needs from me, - Villanelle said fearfully.  
Konstantin put the flowers in a vase, and put the note nearby, on the table.  
\- Read, maybe something important is there, - he advised Villanelle.  
\- Do you know that she tried to kill me yesterday? - Villanelle said displeased, as if complaining to her elder brother about the hooligans at school.  
\- Again?  
\- Yes, with this knife! - Villanelle took the evidence from her pocket and waved in front of Konstantin's nose.  
\- And slaughter again?  
\- No imagination, - Villanelle sighed in frustration.  
She sat at the table next to Konstantin and put her hand on his knee.   
\- What did I do wrong for Eve? - she asked seriously.  
\- Well, you ruined her life a little, ruined her marriage, killed a friend ... - Konstantin began to list.  
\- But I did it all for her, right? I did not kill her husband, because I know that he is dear to her.  
\- Probably her colleague was also dear to her, - Konstantin suggested.  
\- I didn’t have time to understand, can she forgive me for this? -Villanelle protested indignantly.  
There was a knock again. Villanelle opened the door to another courier. He handed over a packet of heart-shaped marmalade and another note from Eve.   
\- How could I love her? Can you see it? - Villanelle showed the package to Konstantin, - she simply copies all my messages. She still did not understand what it means to sacrifice something for others.  
Villanelle took both notes from Eve, tore, without reading, and threw out.  
\- What does she want from me? - Villanelle asked a rhetorical question.  
\- Listen, - began Konstantin, - imagine that you are my young daughter, and I explain to you how you can and how you cannot behave in relationship. Listen to me very carefully.  
Konstantin's lecture lasted till deep night. He tried to explain that some people have a wide heart, they can be friendly with many people at the same time. There is no need to kill their friends, because it can hurt such people.  
Marriage is not about happiness. Marriage is a house of cards, which is built on concessions and agreements. Break it - very easy. Many people break it themselves, because they lose patience during the construction of the very first floor. But the longer people build, the more they rejoice together in each small victory, so if you destroy a big house, you will break the hearts of builders forever. These two will no longer have the strength and patience in this life to begin construction again. Only a few succeed. Therefore, do not destroy other people's marriages.  
Penetrating into someone else's apartment without warning is also not good. Even if this happened out of necessity, you need to behave politely, like a guest. No need to put a knife to the throat of the landlady.  
Villanelle listened silently. She didn’t understand much. She didn’t agree with many. After all, Konstantin himself sometimes came to her without an invitation. She understood the metaphor with cards, but she didn’t understand why people start to build at all, why prolonged suffering brings happiness in the end. But a lot fell into place. She thought that if she were Eve, she would probably be angry too. Probably, if someone broke her house of cards, she would kill everyone.  
There was a knock for the third time.  
\- Lord, Eve, again? - Villanelle got up from the table, unhappy that their philosophical conversations with Konstantin were interrupted.  
Konstantin followed her out into the corridor.  
There was no note this time, there was only a bottle of wine.  
\- Eve is so stupid, - Villanelle said irritably, - I told her a hundred times that I don’t drink, why did she send me a bottle?  
\- I am sure you will deal with this, - answered Konstantin, and hugged Villanelle fatherly.  
\- Already leaving?  
\- Yes, I have to go.  
He left the apartment with the courier. Villanelle closed the door.  
For several minutes she sat in the kitchen in silence and twisted a bottle in her hands. Finally, a guess was born in her head. The girl’s heart beat quickly again. She abruptly got up from the table and began to look for something around the house. A knock on the door distracted her from the search. She rushed forward and without hesitation opened the door:  
\- I hope you didn’t drink the wine, I ordered it for myself, - Eve stood on the threshold of the apartment.  
\- We need to build a house of cards, Eve, - Villanelle said excitedly and dragged Eve into the apartment, - help me find the cards.


	8. Ultimatum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little explanation: from a common "ancestor" - Aksinya - two names appeared in Russian language. First name is Oksana and the second synonymous is Kseniya (Ксения), or diminutive Ksusha (Ксюша). For example, girl Oksana (this is her official name in passport) can call herself Ksusha and vice versa. Girls with name Oksana can be "Ksyusha" for family and friends all their lives, but "Oksana" for notary and state institutions. But usually Oksanas and Ksushas are fucking angry and ready to eat you with your shit, when you use synonymous name. Etiquette rule: to ask Oksana's wish, before calling her Ksusha.

Villanelle, sticking out the tip of her tongue, tried to put the cards upright. So far, she has managed to build only the "first floor" with three "rooms". Eve sat beside her and silently watched the process. She thought that this would end in a couple of minutes, and Villanelle would explain what was happening here, but the silence had been going on for more than half an hour. Then Eve decided to test the girl’s reaction: she slowly reached for the bottle of wine that stood on the table. There was no reaction. Eve grabbed the liner on the bottleneck and deftly removed the plastic wrap. There was no reaction again. Eve grinned, opened the drawer of the table and found the already familiar Swiss army knife in it. She put forward a corkscrew when Villanelle began to lay the "foundation" for the second floor. The tip of the corkscrew dug into the bung, Eve turned it four times and pulled the Swiss army knife toward herself. There was a clap to which Villanelle also didn’t react. Eve, looking at the girl, brought the bottle to the right corner of her mouth and began to drink. After two sips, she set the bottle down on the table with a noise. The house of cards fell on its side. Villanelle fell into a stupor. She looked at Eve, who was clearly scared. Eve did not understand what was happening, but she clearly understood that it was important for Vi.  
\- You ruined our happiness, Eve ... - Villanelle said quietly, almost in a whisper. She was ready to cry. Eve was confused.  
\- Can you explain what is going on here? - she asked.  
\- You're married; you should have understood ... - Villanelle answered just as quietly.  
Eve again, without taking her eyes off the girl, lifted the bottle and sipped wine. Villanelle grabbed the bottle from her hands and began to explain:  
\- Konstantin came and said that people in marriage are building house of cards. These houses are fragile, but the higher the house, the stronger the marriage.  
Eve was silent for a moment, and then grinned.  
\- Nice metaphor! - she answered, - Obviously, Konstantin himself is a shitty builder.  
\- I don’t give a damn about him, - Villanelle said impatiently, - Eve, I built our house, and you destroyed it with your bottle!  
\- That's the whole problem, Villanelle, - Eve said calmly, - you built it alone. I understand that you had a hard life, so you used to keep everything under control. But love has no formula that can be applied to solve a problem. You cannot build happiness alone. I must answer you in return.  
\- So answer, Eve! - Villanelle didn’t understand what the problem was.  
\- I can't, and I'm sorry, believe me, - Eve answered.  
\- But why?  
\- You see, some people stop building a house just because they get bored. You made only one attempt, but you have already despaired. You will get bored with me, sooner or later. At best, you will run away, at worst you will kill me. Although perhaps the worst option is the best. We can be together only until one catches up and the second runs away. You and I are destined to play another game.  
Villanelle was worried. She thought that Eve would leave right now, and if not, then one day she would leave anyway.  
\- I can lose control, - Villanelle shouted in despair.  
\- No, you can't, - Eve said confidently.  
Villanelle grabbed a bottle of wine and began to drink off until the throat began to tickle. She put the bottle on the table and coughed. Conscience tormented Eve. It looked like she poured an alcoholic drink to an unknown child secretly from his parents.  
\- Let's order another one, - Villanelle suggested confidently.  
\- No, honey (Eve really didn’t want to use this word in relation to the killer, but the girl’s desperate step required desperate measures), just wait about fifteen minutes. You will understand that you don’t need more.  
Fifteen minutes passed.  
\- Ой цветет калина, в поле у ручья, - Villanelle sang in Russian and cried, pressing the bottle to her cheek.  
Eve was worried, it seemed to her that she had awakened an ancient evil. Now in front of her was that Oksana, from whom Villanelle had been running away all her life.  
\- Never, hear, Eve, never call me Ksy-usha, - Villanelle wanted to say it as strictly as possible, but hiccups prevented her.  
Eve didn’t understand anything, because Villanelle continued to speak Russian.  
\- Последняя заря... Настало время мое!  
The deep bass struck Eve, she decided that such a timbre is the genetic code of all Russians. Then Eve breathed a sigh of relief when she remembered that Villanelle had killed a neighbor. No one will call the police.  
\- You will leave me first, - Villanelle said calmly.  
\- Could you speak English? - Eve asked neatly.  
\- Ой, sorry, да - Villanelle switched to English, - you would be the first to run away, Eve, because all women leave me from childhood. They don’t like me ... I scare them! - а tear rolled down Villanelle's cheek. Eve didn’t have time to pick up the bottle from the girl's hands, so Oksana drank the rest in one gulp. Eve took an empty bottle from her hands to avoid possible problems.  
\- To die does not mean to quit, - she corrected the girl.  
\- My parents are alive, I'm just joking that they died, ой, I meant, I was notified that they were dead, but they are alive, - Villanelle explained confusedly.  
Eve was very surprised.  
\- Why were you separated?  
\- Mother just passed me to the orphanage! It was Russia, we survived as best we could.  
\- Why did she do this?  
\- I was a difficult child, Eve, you know this no worse than my mother.  
\- I would never have sent you to an orphanage, - Eve wanted to touch Villanelle’s hand, but decided that she had already made great concessions to the murderer, - I would go through all the difficulties with you.  
\- That's what I suggest you do!  
\- You are proposing a different kind of relationship, - Eve snapped, - there is something that cannot be changed, I'm not your mother.  
So Eve said «yes» and «no» at the same time, which confused Villanelle. Does this mean that Eve doesn’t want to be with her, because they are not connected by family ties, or that Eve wants to be with her, because she is not like other women in Vi’s life?  
\- Больно мне, больно, не унять эту злую боль, - yelled in Russian Villanelle. Eve flinched. She realized that the evening needed to end. In addition, Eve realized that controlled evil is better than uncontrollable.  
Eve went to the stove and set the kettle on. She took off the blanket from the hated cot, went up to Villanelle and wrapped her up. The girl was crying quietly (in fact - it was a reaction to alcohol).  
Eve made tea and poured it into mugs. She prepared very strong and very sweet tea for Villanelle, so that the girl would soon come to her senses and not suffer from stomach pain at night. Finally, Eve sat down opposite.  
\- Let's do this: I will live with you until the end of quarantine. For the end we take the day when we are allowed to go to work. Then everyone will go their own way: you will kill, and I will chase you...  
\- Routine! - said the girls at the same time and laughed.  
\- But if, Villanelle, - Eve said seriously, - if you will feel that you can no longer live with me and want me to leave, just tell. Now, I give you a chance to look at your dreams in reality - I suggest you live with me as with a family.  
Villanelle sobbed and cried with renewed vigor:  
\- Oooй ... - she said loudly.  
Eve realized that it was time to sleep. While Villanelle drank tea and sang Russian songs sadly, Eve made a bed for her and realized that nevertheless fate had overtaken her: she would have to sleep on a cot. She didn’t like this idea so much that she decided to take a risk:  
\- I can sleep with you in bed! - she shouted toward the kitchen so that Villanelle could hear her.  
\- Oh, no, Eve, you are rushing it, - Villanelle got up from the table, ran to the bed, plopped down and fell asleep.


	9. Unloved children become psychopaths

\- I always felt lonely, - Villanelle sat on the bed, dangling her legs.  
Eve stood in the kitchen preparing breakfast for two. Periodically, she rubbed her back and neck: the cot seemed to her too stiff.  
\- I walked the streets just to be among the people. At first it helped, but then it got worse. People just walked by and didn’t notice me. I wanted to scream, but it seemed to me that they wouldn’t hear. I realized that you can feel alone in a crowd of people. So I made friends. I hung out with them, but then realized that their conversations were just idle chatter that didn’t fill the emptiness inside me. I was really scared. How can you be in the company of good people who love and support you, but feel so lonely among them? I tried to fight it, but every day it got worse. A black hole swallowed me. Then women appeared in my life. I liked to conquer them. For our country, it sounded like something impossible, unreal. And I like to solve insoluble problems. To seduce a woman and make her obsessed with you - that what entertained me. I felt alive when after school I watched some teacher. I watched what house she entered, to which floor the elevator reached, in which window the light came on. I figured out her address. Then I had to become a real actress: I constantly had to invent reasons to get into the woman’s apartment. I learned to play, even squeeze a tear, so that one flowed, on one side of the cheek. Perfectly! I learned to understand characters and read emotions. These were the sweetest years of my youth.  
\- What happened then? - asked Eve, who was listening attentively to the killer's strange confession all this time.  
\- Crisis, - Villanelle answered sadly.  
\- The middle-aged crisis of the teacher you tried to seduce? - tried to joke Eve.  
\- Pff, no, - Villanelle grinned, - once there came a period when I wasn’t in love with anyone...  
\- Obsessed, - Eve corrected.  
\- In love! - protested Villanelle.  
\- Well, explain further - Eve didn’t insist.  
\- I was left alone again and tried to live for myself, to do something for myself, and not for all these women. And I realized that I don’t want to do anything for myself. It didn’t inspire me. I needed someone’s praise. I began to plunge into the most severe depression of all that I experienced. It was a time of complete apathy, when I didn’t even see the point of getting out of bed. I even thought about interrupting life. I used to live for my muse, but the muse left me.  
\- What stopped you? - Eve asked neatly.  
\- The brain, - Villanelle answered confidently, - it always feels when we are plotting something like that. It realized that I was on the verge, so it began to palm off on me all the possible options for which I could catch. So, one night I dreamed that I was kneeling in front of my French teacher and doing...  
\- Grammar exercises, - Eve decided to finish the sentence for Villanelle, because she didn’t want to know the details of this dream.  
\- Yes, - Villanelle was pleased that she had managed to embarrass Eve, - that’s what we did in a dream. So in the morning, after that dream with grammar exercises, I woke up with an acute desire to make the story come true. I felt alive again, re-entered the game!  
\- And then you killed Anna, - Eve finished the story.  
\- I didn’t need her anymore because you appeared, - said Villanelle, as if it were obvious to everyone.  
Eve spun around and looked at Villanelle.  
\- This is exactly what I am telling you — one day you will be tired of playing with me and you will kill me, just like you killed Anna! - summed up Eve.  
\- You didn’t hear the most important part again, - Villanelle finally stopped shaking her feet, - I feel good now because I don’t feel empty.  
\- But now I feel bad, - said Eve and laid the fried eggs and bacon in two plates.  
Villanelle got out of bed and went into the kitchen.  
\- What if I never get tired of being with you, - she asked Eve.  
\- All obsessions sooner or later pass, this is how mental disorders work, - said Eve.   
She sat down at the table and began to eat the fried eggs quickly, just to show Villanelle that the conversation was pissing her off.  
\- What if I'm not a psychopath? - asked Villanelle.  
\- A forensic expert wrote this in the case ... - Eve began.  
\- Maybe he was wrong, - Villanelle insisted.  
\- In the man murder case, Villanelle, the man killed by you! - Eve started screaming.  
\- Am I the first and only person in the world who kills? - Villanelle sat at the table and also began to eat, - then we are all psychopaths!  
The girls ate in silence for several minutes, until Eve finally could not stand it:  
\- Tasty?  
\- Mm ... - said Villanelle as if Eve’s question made her bored.  
\- I won’t cook for you anymore, - Eve muttered.  
\- You see, Eve, we are alike with you, - said satisfied Villanelle, - you, too, are trying your best to please me. We are not just chasing each other. We are trying to conquer each other. To impress. That is the novelty of our relationship.  
Eve turned away to hide a smile from Villanelle:  
\- So the food is tasty? - she repeated her question.  
\- Highly. Marry me, - Villanelle answered.  
\- Pff, - Eve laughed, got up from the table, took two empty plates and carried them to the sink. She turned on the water and made a stronger pressure to pretend that she doesn’t hear the girl's questions because of the noise. But Vi, being a professional hunter, guessed Eve’s trick, so she just patiently waited for her to do the dishes. Eve tried to stretch the process, but in the end she had to turn off the water.  
\- So will you marry me? - asked Villanelle, smiling.  
\- Time will tell, - Eve turned and smiled back.

\- Let's fix the chronology of events, - Eve began to write with a piece of chalk on the blackboard that Villanelle dragged from the apartment of her murdered neighbor-teacher, - you have a tense relationship with your mother in childhood, you try to impress her with your actions - she doesn’t respond. You try to scare her with your actions, which is equivalent to a call for help - she takes you to an orphanage. Yes?  
\- Yes, Doctor Freud, - Villanelle yawned as she spoke the phrase.  
\- So you have acquired homosexuality, you don’t want a woman in the physical sense, you seek platonic love, - Eve developed her theories.  
\- Um, say it to Anna, - Villanelle grinned and pulled a fashion magazine out of the dresser. She began defiantly flipping through its pages to show Eve how bored she was.  
When Eve tried to turn back to the board and continue to record the chain of events, Villanelle added:  
\- Anna, with whom we had sex for hours every day, - she looked up from the magazine to enjoy Eve's reaction.  
\- I don't want to hear anything about it, - Eve didn’t even turn to Villanelle. She only raised her forefinger warningly. Villanelle laughed. She expected exactly this reaction.  
\- Let's continue, - said Eve.  
Villanelle rolled her eyes.  
\- In fact, you didn’t try to conquer all these women, you saw in them the image of your mother, so the old complex woke up. In my case, it makes no difference: your mind is simply trying to solve old questions. You are trying to impress me like a daughter who wants to hear the praise of her mother. So you love me as a mother, you know, Villanelle?  
The girl is tired of listening to this Freudian bullshit. She dropped the magazine, got up and headed for the blackboard. Villanelle clasped Eve's waist with one hand, pulled her and kissed. With her second hand, she grabbed chalk from Eve's palm and threw it into the wall. Small pieces of white dust fell on the floor.  
\- That's how I feel about you, okay? - Villanelle looked seriously at Eve.  
A ray of sunshine made its way into the room. Birds were singing outside the window. The girls, whose intimacy was often interrupted by external circumstances, suddenly realized that nothing would disturb them now. Neither the Twelve, nor MI6. Even Konstantin stopped coming.  
Eve looked into Villanelle’s eyes and said:   
\- God, I want this to last forever.


End file.
